Oral History Interview Fun

For this week's blog post, reflect upon your experience interviewing your oral history subject. How did you feel about the experience? Do you think it went well - why or why not? What do you think you might do differently in future oral history interviews? What was interesting about your subject's story?

I felt kind of awed by the experience of hearing how someone's life story came to be. It's really amazing how much I learned from Mike (the guy we interviewed) and how well the interview went. Some of the reasons it went well include how much information we got from him and how easy he was to talk to. In the future I would move the recording device closer to the person being interviewed and make sure all of my partners were seated behind me (in the case of me interviewing). I learned a lot of interesting things from Mike, such as what it's like to move around to a lot of different states when you're younger. He also went to art school and learned how to paint before he realized he hated it. Finally, the way he looked at his art was the most interesting. He didn't really think about it so much as doing it and I thought that was really cool.

Magazine Analysis

The article I read was about the history of the LGBT community (as well as its high and low points) in Houston, but specifically the Houston Pride Parade. The parade has been there as a symbol of community and something that says that LGBT individual stands alone. It has been a huge part of the city's LGBT community since the 50s and it was there when everything looked dark for all individuals gay, bisexual, transgender, or otherwise. While in the 1950s people were really starting to accept others who were different, there were those who didn't support it. The parade stood as a show to say that the LGBT community wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. I really enjoyed some of the word usage in this article as well as its overall positive stance on LGBT rights. The article on the internet was only part of it and I would enjoy reading the whole thing.

A cool dad

Summarize the story to which you listened and provide a link to that story. Then write three follow-up questions that you would like to be able to ask the person(s) telling the story.

https://storycorps.org/animation/the-saint-of-dry-creek/

This story was about a rural farm boy, Patrick Haggerty, slowly realizing he was gay (and thought he was doing a good job at it) when he wasn't actually doing the best job. His father who must have probably come across as a stereotypical Southern farmer wasn't the first to notice that his son may have been coming to terms with being gay but he was the first person to do something about it and not in the way you might expect. He confronted his son about it and instead of reassuring his son that he liked girls and that he was just "going through a phase" he told him something along the lines of this: he needed to not hide who he was because the impression hiding, or "sneaking", creates is an impression that what someone believes they are is wrong. Patrick tried to deny what his father was saying about him possibly being gay but Charles, his dad, saw right through him. Some follow-up questions I'd like to ask Patrick include if his father did anything else to help him towards realizing his identity, if he had to deal with coming out before or after his dad died, and how his life would have been different if his dad hadn't been accepting.

Final post

The way Marjane illustrated her book was especially interesting to me. Some of the qualities that really drew me in were the simplicity in the panels and the way that the story was illustrated beyond the way it needed to be. The way the characters were drawn with not too much detail made me feel a sort of kindred spirit because my drawing skills are only good enough to draw the way Marjane did (if I can even say that much). Other things that interested me about Marjane's work include the way she moved from panel to panel in a way that was disjointed and at the same time fluid. I would love to learn how to do that. Finally, I loved the black and white art style. While making it feel older may not have been Marjane's intention, it was a stylistic choice that really appealed to me.

Setting

Describe how setting plays a part in the book. How does it move the plot forward? What does it reveal about the plot? How does it set the mood? Give specific examples from the book.

In Persepolis, the setting moves the plot forward by changing from Iran to Austria (p. 155). This change signifies several things. First, it marks what many would consider the beginning of puberty for Marjane. Second, it also shows the drastic change in both social and physical environment from strict, religiously-run Iran to a more free society in Austria. Not that the free society was accessible to Marjane at first, seeing as she was living in a boarding school run by nuns. Not related to the change, the mood is also set by the setting. All through the book the confined nature of Marjane’s surroundings really sort of lends light to what it was like to live her life when she did.

Discrimination

On many occasions in Austria, Marjane experienced discrimination (from the nuns, other students, etc.). Why do you think the Austrians felt this way about Marjane, and how do you think this changed Marjane's opinion of Europeans? Use specific examples from the book to support your claims.

Marjane gets a lot of discrimination thrown against her during her four years in Austria as shown by the students in the cafe on page 196 and by many others. I think the Austrians felt this way about Marjane because she was different from them. One of the major differences was probably how she looked different. While the book never actually says it, I'm sure that she had some sort of accent that people also didn't like. The discrimination changed Marjane's views of the Austrians in many ways, one of them being that she obviously thought they were much worse than they were. They also must have seemed alien-like to her because of their cultural and physical differences. All in all, the way that Marjane and the Austrians don't like each other seems very petty and it could easily be solved.

Why did Marjane's parents decide to send her to Europe. Do you think this was the right decision? Why or why not?

Mainly, Marjane's parents sent her to Europe to get her out of Iran as the revolution escalated. They didn't want her to be caught up in the arrests and executions with her current rebellious state. They also wanted to make sure she could get a proper education and be able to express herself without the restrictions set on Iranian women. There was the war with Iraq as well. Marjane wouldn't have even needed to be caught to be killed by a bomb. I don't think there could be any way this wasn't the right decision, unless keeping a family together is more important than getting your daughter to a place where she can be herself. Marjane may not have realized it, but this was the right choice.